Duty was: The duty of a Cetra and of a SOLDIER
by malu
Summary: FF7 AU. SephyAeris was originaly named The duties of a Cetra and the duties of a Soldier
1. Introductions (chapters 1 and 2)

Title: The duties of a Cetra and the duties of a SOLDIER

Author: Malu ([malu_45@hotmail.com][1])

Series: FF7 (Alternate Universe)

Disclaimers- Final Fantasy 7 characters are not mine. They belong to Squaresoft.

Author's notes- This story takes place in an alternate universe where the original game doesn't take place. This fic is centered on Aeris and Sephiroth, if you find that pairing insulting, don't read it. In this alternate universe Aeris is a SOLDIER 1st class and still is a Cetra (no one else knows) and she's 16 years old. Sephiroth is also in SOLDIER, but he's not a general, he's a Lieutenant. Zack is in it too and he's one of Sephiroth's men. Some of other characters will appear too. 

(means thought)

Sephiroth and his men were camped near the North Crater in the Northern Continent. They were tired. Sephiroth looked around and sighted. Their assignment was to look for a giant creature that the people of the Glacier saw a few weeks ago. Ten 1st class SOLDIERS, including himself, jus to find one monster. Sephiroth knew that the only reason why they were sent on this wild goose chase was because his enemies in Shinra wanted to discredit him. There were a lot of people in the higher ranks in Shinra that felt threatened by Sephiroth's abilities and didn't want to loose their power. For them what could be better than making Sephiroth the laughing stock in SOLDIER? Sephiroth looked around, there was nothing else to do so he got up and walked to his tent. He sat on his sleeping bag, lighted a lamp and started reading a book. His PHS started ringing. A male voice was heard, "Hello it's Reno. I've got news from HQ. Another SOLDIER is getting transferred to your unit." Sephiroth thought about it. (_Why would they send me another SOLDIER?) _"Do you have any information on him?" Reno grinned. "Actually it's a her, her name's Aeris Gainsborough, she's a 1st class SOLDIER and she's a babe." Sephiroth sighed in resignation, (_Reno, always thinking with his…Anyway, another 1st class SOLDIER should help finish the mission sooner_.)" Reno, when is she reporting for duty?" Reno laughed, "Always on track, aren't we? She's coming two days from now. Gotta go, see ya!" Sephiroth turned off the PHS. He looked at his watch and it was late. (_I'll tell the rest in the morning. _He closed his book and turned off his light.)

In the Shinra Building people where still working, on the 64th floor Aeris was practicing her sword katas. She was very good with a sword since that's the official weapon of SOLDIER, but her weapon of choice is the bo staff. She wore short black pants and a black tank top. Her long brown hair was tied up in a braid, as always, but it was messed up. Her concentration was broken when a male voice called, "Hey Aeris!". Aeris stopped her kata._ (That voice can only be HIS.) _He was smiling and grinning. "Hey, babe! I've got news for you. You're been transferred." Aeris' eyes widened. Reno kept up the suave smile, "What do you say about dinner at 8'o clock tomorrow, babe?" Aeris gave him a frosty glare, "Babe? I don't think so!" (_The nerve of that guy, can he ever call me by my name?) _She picked up her stuff. Reno kept smiling, "You're to report tomorrow morning to Heidegger's office for instructions." He gave her one last smile and left. Aeris went to her apartment on the Shinra barracks. She stood by her window and looked outside. (_What could be important enough that Heidegger would want to see me? I wonder where I'm gonna be transferred to. I'm tired of staying on Midgar, I feel the Planet calling for me, something's gonna happen and I have to be there.) _She took off a silver necklace that had white orb mounted on it and put it on her nightstand. She took a shower and prepared for bed.

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The next morning, when she entered Heidegger's office, she was wearing her SOLDIER uniform which was blue just like the male's uniform, but with a tighter fit and her hair was still done in a braid hold up with a blue string. She still wore the silver necklace under her uniform. She saluted and Heidegger ordered her to be at ease. " I called you here to inform you that you are going to be transferred to Lieutenant Sephiroth's unit. You are to report to him tomorrow at 1800 hours on the Northern Continent. Dismissed." Aeris saluted again and left to put her affairs in order before leaving for the Northern Continent. 

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On Sephiroth's camp everyone was already up and ready for another day of monster hunting, as the men called it. Sephiroth was busy inspecting everything was packed before they moved out. (_Still nothing, will we ever finish this mission? Oh, I almost forgot about the new SOLDIER.) _He looked at his men, they were all assembled. "Everyone, Headquarters has assigned another SOLDIER to this unit. Her name's Gainsborough. She'll be here tomorrow." They continued searching the whole day without finding anything. 

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The next morning Aeris was waiting for the helicopter that was going to take her to her new assignment. It was late. (_Not only am I going to be transferred to the middle of nowhere, but I'm gonna be late too! But getting a chance to work for Lieutenant Sephiroth is too good to pass up!) _Before she could continue her trail of thought, the helicopter arrived. She loaded her baggage, a tent, some clothes and a few more things needed for survival in the wilderness. She carried her weapon and a few recovery items. The helicopter was on its way to the Northern Continent.

Aeris looked through the window and could only see the ocean. (_The wind, the ocean, the Planet, it's calling me, I can feel it. Something is going to happen soon…) _Aeris didn't talk much to the pilot, who seemed concentrated on his job.

It was already 1600 hours when Aeris saw the Northern Continent on the horizon. The helicopter ride was quiet until they reached the Great Glacier; a loud road made the helicopter shake. Aeris looked out the window. A huge creature was just in front of them. Aeris' eyes widened. (_That creature! It's a Weapon! That means that the danger that'll threaten the Planet is here!) _The Weapon attacked the helicopter with its left arm. The pilot tried to change the helicopter's course, but couldn't avoid the attack. The helicopter started falling. Aeris looked around to see if there were parachutes, but there was nothing. (_Damn it! There's nothing here! If we crash everything will be lost!) _Aeris closed her eyes and concentrated. Her body began to glow and the glow spread to the helicopter. The helicopter glowed and it started to slow down, so when it crashed the impact was softened. 

After a while Aeris dug herself out from under the debris. She looked around, no Weapon. She suddenly remembers about the pilot. She searched through the rubble and found him seriously injured. She dug him out and looked around. As far as the eye can see there was nothing there, just snow and more snow. (_What am I gonna do? If I don't find help quick this man's gonna die! For the love of the Planet, someone help me!) _Aeris prayed to the Planet for help.

__

Aeris heard a distant roar; she looked around, fearing that the Weapon was coming back. She looked desperately around the remains of the helicopter and found her staff and her items. She checked her materia and prepared for battle. But when the roaring got closer, Aeris saw that it wasn't Weapon, but a Blue Dragon hunting down a Black Chocobo. (_A black chocobo? Here?) _Aeris sprung into action. She ran towards the Blue Dragon and summoned Ifrit. Ifrit hit the Blue Dragon and it roared in pain. It turned toward Aeris and tried to bite her, but Aeris dodged the attack. Aeris cast Fire 3. The Dragon countered with a Blue Dragon Breath. Aeris stumbled because of the pain, but quickly got up and cast Cure 2 on herself, which helped cure almost all of her injuries, and before the Dragon could attack, she cast her Seal Evil limit break. The Dragon was silenced, but not paralyzed. She cast Fire 3 again. The Blue Dragon tried desperately to rip Aeris apart with its claws. Aeris dodged most of them, but still some of them hit her on her left arm and shoulder. Aeris cast Fire 3 and the Blue Dragon fell to the floor, dead. She rushed to the pilot and gave him and elixir. (_He can't survive long in this cold, there aren't any towns nearby and the camp is about 3 miles from here.)_

Aeris looked around. The chocobo was still there, wounded, but alive. (_Maybe…)_ She took out an elixir and gave it to the chocobo. The chocobo was fully healed, but looked at Aeris wearily. Aeris looked at him with her glowing Mako eyes. The chocobo was frozen, not sure if it could trust her. Aeris closed her eyes and concentrated. Her left hand started to glow, an eerie green glow. The chocobo first looked like it was gonna flee, but he started walking toward Aeris. She held out her glowing hand to it. It stopped one foot away from Aeris. She stroked it softly and the chocobo finally calmed down. "You're cute, I'll call you Luna." The chocobo warked happily.

Aeris walked over to the wounded pilot and Luna walked behind her. Aeris tried to put the pilot on Luna's back, but the chocobo was too tall and the pilot too heavy. Luna seemed to understand her predicament, so she lowered herself so Aeris could lay the pilot down on her back. Aeris looked at the sky; the sun was starting to set. Aeris mounted the chocobo, holding the pilot up front. The ride was slow, so the pilot wouldn't fall off the chocobo. Sometimes Aeris would stop and defeat some monsters because they couldn't outrun them. When they were almost one kilometer from the camp, Aeris got off the chocobo and led the way. She had a long gash on her right arm, but she didn't cure it because she needed to save up her magic to fight monsters and tend to the pilot.

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Sephiroth was beginning to get impatient. He looked at his watch. (_It's 2000 hours and still no sign of Gainsborough.) _He had been waiting 2 hours. At first he was angry at her, thinking that she was irresponsible and missed her ride, so he called Reno. Reno told him Aeris had left on a helicopter at 1400 hours. He decided to wait one more hour before going to look for her.

His men were seated around the campfire. They were talking about different things. Zack, Sephiroth's second in command, was speaking to another soldier. Zack had spiky black hair and blue mako-infused eyes. The SOLDIER he was talking to had short brown hair and brown mako eyes. Zack looked at Sephiroth, "Hey Mike, take a look at Sephiroth." Mike did as he was told, "Uh, if looks could kill…" Zack almost laughed; Sephiroth doesn't normally show any kind of emotion, so he should really be fuming, "Yeah man, I wonder where is this Gainsborough girl?"

Sephiroth was loosing his patience. He heard someone approaching the camp. He listened closely. (_It's actually two sounds, a human and a chocobo. The chocobo just stopped, but the human's getting closer.) _Sephiroth drew his Masamune. All of the other SOLDIERS saw this and prepared for battle. Then they saw a lone figure coming closer, it was slender, obviously female.

Aeris was almost there, she already knew they must have heard her coming. She didn't even try to approach them unnoticed; they were trained SOLDIERS. She was tired and injured; she wanted to be done with it. When she was close enough to see them she stopped and looked around until she saw Sephiroth. (_Long silver hair and green mako eyes, definitely Sephiroth.)_

Sephiroth looked at the young woman that was slowly walking toward camp. (_She looks too frail to be a real threat. She has a SOLDIER uniform, maybe she's Gainsborough.) _He sheathed his weapon, the rest of the men relaxed.

Aeris walked into camp and went directly to Sephiroth. She was a little self-conscious because she knew everyone was looking at her, studying her. She stopped a few feet from Sephiroth. "1st class SOLDIER Gainsborough, reporting for duty, sir." She tried to salute, but moving her right arm was too painful. Sephiroth looked at Aeris, her uniform was dirty with blood and dirt and she was injured. "At ease. Gainsborough, you were to report at 1800 hours, you're late. Why were you late?" Aeris looked like she wanted to die. (_What am I gonna tell him? He'll never believe me and I can't tell him it's a Weapon.) _"Sir, the helicopter crashed. The pilot survived, I'll get him." She turned around and called Luna. Luna approached the camp slowly, but at the sight of Sephiroth and his men, she stopped. Sephiroth looked at the chocobo carrying the wounded pilot. (_The helicopter crashed? How? How could they survive? Where did this chocobo come from)? _Aeris called Luna again and the chocobo went to her warking. Aeris stroked Luna's head, "Luna, down." The chocobo lowered itself and one of the men carried the pilot into one of the tents. 

Sephiroth looked at Aeris and the chocobo. "I want a complete recount of what happened, come." He led her to his tent. He let her sit on his sleeping bag, while he sat on a small stool. "You're wounded, do you have Restore Materia?" Aeris was a little uneasy because she was sitting on his sleeping bag, "Oh, yes I do. I just didn't want to use up my magic resources, I needed it for the pilot and in case I ran into a powerful monster." She cast Cure 3 on herself.

Sephiroth studied her, "Why did the helicopter crash?" 

Aeris didn't know what to say. (_Should I say the truth? Would he believe me?) _She took her chances. "The helicopter was flying over the Great Glacier, when we were attacked and the helicopter went down." 

Sephiroth knew she wanted to hide something, "By what?" 

"Truthfully, I don't think you'd believe me."

"Try me."

"We were attacked by a giant monster."

Sephiroth just looked at her, his face showing no emotion."A giant monster, sounds like our target."

Aeris was confused, " Our target?"

"Yes, our target. Our mission is to locate a giant creature that has been terrorizing the people of the Northern Continent. Now, back to the subject at hand, what happened next?"

"Well the monster attacked the helicopter with its arm and we crashed. When I came to I dug myself out from the wreck and dug out the pilot; he was badly wounded."

"And the chocobo?"

"When I woke up, she was being attacked by a Blue Dragon, I saved her."

"…" (_That chocobo is too well trained to be wild. A wild black chocobo…)_

"Anyway Luna took us here. We had to go slowly so the pilot's wounds didn't reopen."

"That should take care of it. I'll introduce you to the rest." They walked outside the tent. The others were preparing dinner. They sat down next to them. Luna was busy eating some wild greens next to the camp. "Let me introduce you. Everyone this is Aeris Gainsborough, SOLDIER 1st class." Aeris cut in, "You can all call me Aeris." They greeted her. Zack, being the resident ladies' man, gave her a dashing smile and kissed her hand "I'm very pleased to meet you, I'm Zack…" Aeris eyes widened with recognition. "Oh I know who you are, you're Zack Almasy." Zack grinned. "I see I have somewhat of a reputation." Aeris smirked. "No, you seem to have a short memory span. It seems that you don't remember me, my grandparents live in Gongaga village." (_Really, he never changes.) _Sephiroth and the rest were trying not to laugh. Zack tried to salvage the situation, "Oh, I remember, we where such good friends." Aeris got an idea, "We were more than friends." Zack smirked. Aeris raised an eyebrow, "I remember the last time I saw you. You changed my shampoo for something that turned my hair green, but before I could get my hands on you, you had already left for Midgar." Aeris' voice was full of sarcasm, "Oh, how I missed you." Some of the SOLDIERS couldn't keep a strait face and started laughing. One of them spoke up, "Strike three! Out!" Sephiroth smirked, trying very hard not to laugh. Zack gave them a dark look, "Ha, ha. Very funny."

They talked about this and that. It was getting late, so Sephiroth told them to light out. Luna was sleeping next to the fire. Aeris stood in the middle of camp, all of the others where getting into their tents. Aeris looked at them. "Umm, I think we forgot something." (_Where am I gonna sleep? With Luna?)_

The men looked at each other, then at Aeris. Sephiroth looked at Aeris, "Oh, let's discuss the sleeping arrangement." (_Ten male SOLDIERS, a wounded pilot, a female SOLDIER and only 4 tents. Why me?)_

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Author's notes- I took Seifer Almasy's (from FF8) last name and gave it to Zack (if anyone knows the real last name please tell me). Many people may think Aeris and Sephiroth are OOC, but they're not. Aeris isn't a saint (she did tell half of the Wall Marked that Cloud was gay), she's a normal teenager. Sephiroth is just like he was before going nuts, quiet, mostly unemotional, but still normal. He's nice to other (except when working) and polite. They are still normal teenagers.

Chapter 2

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Disclaimers- See chapter one

Author's notes- Same as chapter one. Since italics don't work on e-mails what's in italics I had to put thoughts in parenthesis (thoughts), but please if you put it on your page put thoughts in italics and delete the parenthesis.

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The sleeping arrangements were still not resolved. Of course, Zack offered to share his tent with her. Zack and his friends looked smug. Aeris just stared at them, the look she gave them said it all. (_I don't think so perverts.) _Sephiroth spoke up. "Everyone! I've got a solution to our problem. My tent is the smallest so Aeris you'll take it. The pilot will stay where he is. Everyone stays where they were. I'll stay in Zack's tent." Mumbles could be heard, obviously 4 men sleeping in a tent made for 3 men was not their idea of comfortable sleeping arrangements.

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The next morning everyone got up early. Sephiroth assembled everyone outside. " I already called Headquarters and they are going to send someone to get the pilot. Since our target has been spotted again, I want all of you to stay in parties of 3 people each. One party will stay behind, secure the camp and take care of the pilot. Another party will go north toward the crater and another to the Great Glacier. There are 2 people left. I will take Gainsborough to the crash site. Understood?"

All of the men and Aeris saluted, "Yes sir!"

Sephiroth looked at them, "Well leave in 10 minutes. Dismissed."

Everyone went to their tents to look for their equipment. Aeris looked for her staff, armor, materia and items, then went to the tent where the pilot was. She made sure she was alone with the pilot. He was awake, but barely. He was about 40 years old; he had black hair, dark brown eyes with a black beard and mustache. She approached him, "How are you feeling? Do you remember me?" The pilot looked at Aeris. "I'm alive, I feel too awful to be dead, but I'll get better. You're…you're the girl on the helicopter. " Aeris smiled, "I'm Aeris Gainsborough, I'm a SOLDIER 1st class. I hope you feel better soon." The pilot returned her smile and attempted to nod, but he was still too weak, "My name's Jack." 

Aeris nodded, "Jack, do you remember what happened when we crashed?" Jack just looked at her, confused. "I don't really remember much, when I saw the monster attack us, everything turned a light green and I lost consciousness. What was that thing?"

Aeris was a little nervous, "I don't know, it was a giant monster and we were sent here to destroy it. Anyway they're gonna send you home today, so I'm here to say good bye, maybe I'll see you in Midgar when I return."

Jack smiled again, "Okay, I'll see you then, and thanks for saving me."

"My pleasure." She said as she left.

She assembled with the other out side of camp. They separated themselves into 4 parties. One stayed behind and the rest left to their appointed positions. 

Zack was the leader of the party that was headed for the Crater. Mike (Zack's friend, see chapter 1) lead the party headed for the Great Glacier. Aeris and Sephiroth left for the crash site. They walked for hours. Aeris walked in front, leading Sephiroth. They had encountered a few monsters on the way, but all of them were easy to destroy. It was taking too long. Sephiroth kept quiet and Aeris was tired of the silence. She looked around; the crash site was still far away. (_This is taking too long. With Luna it took more than one hour for me to get to camp, on foot it'll take forever. This silence is driving me crazy.) _Sephiroth was busy looking around. He decided to take Aeris alone to test out her fighting skills. (_Her physical attacks are average, but far too weak for a SOLDIER 1st class. Now her magic attacks are another matter, I've never seen someone with her mastery of materia, except probably me. Most of her materia is mastered and very rare.)_

He heard a noise from behind. Aeris heard it too and turned around. They were mildly surprised to find that Luna had followed them. Sephiroth frowned. "I thought you released the chocobo last night." Aeris looked puzzled. "I thought so too." Luna walked up to Aeris and warked, as if asking to be petted. Aeris complied. "Sir, I've got an idea. What if we ride the chocobo to the crash site, it'll be much faster and we wouldn't have to fight monsters on the way." Sephiroth considered the idea, normally he would have said no, he preferred to travel on foot, but he gave in to Aeris. "It's a good idea." 

He walked toward Luna, but she took a step back and looked at Aeris. Aeris calmed her down. "Luna, don't be afraid. Can you please take us to where I found you?" Sephiroth raised and eyebrow. Much to his surprise Luna warked and lowered herself so it would be easier for them to mount her. Since Sephiroth was heavier and larger than Aeris, he rode in front and Aeris on the back. At first Luna went slowly, weary of Sephiroth, but quickened her pace. They arrived at the crash site in half an hour.

The helicopter was still there, or what was left of it anyway. There were pieces of metal everywhere. Sephiroth looked at the wreck. The helicopter was torn into two pieces. (_Only something gigantic could have done something like that. How could they survive this, not only was the attack very strong, but a fall from that altitude should have been fatal.)_

Aeris was too busy searching for tracks belonging to the WEAPON, but there were only a few footprints, but the tracks seem to appear and disappear out of nowhere. (_This can't be,_ _something as big as WEAPON can't just materialize out of nowhere and disappear the same way. And if it's possible, why would it attack me?)_

Sephiroth examined the footprints too. There was no trace of WEAPON anywhere, just a few holes in the ground and the helicopter. (_There's no question something big attacked the plane, but what? How could a monster of that size leave without leaving any trail?)_

They looked around for a few hours, but didn't have any luck. They stopped to eat lunch. Aeris remembered her dinner and her breakfast. (_Those rations we had for dinner tasted like cardboard, wait, cardboard had more taste. Since we're gonna be here a while they brought some food other than rations. In the morning they cooked, they made a mess and the food was even worse. None of them know how to cook. At least they should be sure it's edible, or dead for that matter. At least I'll have a decent lunch.) _She had packed a couple of lunches. It consisted of sandwiches, some miso soup and tea, not much, but she didn't have time for anything else. 

Sephiroth was seated next to her. He took out his ration from his pack and just stared at it for a while. (_The most feared and powerful military forces on the planet and their food tastes like crap.) _He didn't want to open it. He looked at Aeris. Aeris was taking out both lunches. She gave one to Sephiroth. "Here sir, so you don't have to eat rations again." Sephiroth took it and nodded in gratitude. They started eating. Aeris was busy eating and Sephiroth seemed lost in thought, as always. He was still trying to figure Aeris out. Aeris didn't seem like the typical type of SOLDIER; she had the ability, but not the killer instinct. Aeris was too nice. She even brought him lunch. (_I've seen that before, nice and sweet. Always helping and attentive, at first, then they turn into Scarlet. Everyone want something, nothing's free. Appearances deceive. She'll always be looking at me and hanging on my every word.) _He looked at Aeris; she had finished her lunch and was petting Luna, paying no attention to Sephiroth whatsoever. (_Maybe not.) _They put everything away and discussed what to do next.

Suddenly a loud roar could be heard. Sephiroth and Aeris prepared for battle and out of nowhere appeared the Weapon. The Weapon stopped, studying both of them. It looked at Aeris, but quickly turned to look at Sephiroth. It growled and lunged at Sephiroth. He moved out of the way and cast Bolt 3. It didn't do anything to the Weapon. Aeris tried Ifrit, but again it didn't do anything. The Weapon attacked again, this time it blasted a beam of pure energy toward them, but they moved out of the beam's range. Then the ground started to shake violently and the ground seemed to open up beneath their feet; everything turned dark..

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   [1]: mailto:malu_45@hotmail.com



	2. Weapon (chapter 3)

Title- Duty

Chapter 3

Author- malu ([malu_45@hotmail.com][1])

Series- Final Fantasy 7

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Disclaimers- see chapter 1

Author's notes- Same as chapter one. Since italics don't work on e-mails what's in italics I had to put thoughts in parenthesis (thoughts), but please if you put it on your page put thoughts in italics and delete the parenthesis. I forgot to mention Seph's age, he's 19. 

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Everything was dark and quiet. The earth had stopped moving. Aeris opened her eyes slowly. The darkness made visibility almost impossible, the only light being a small crevice on the ceiling. (_It's a cave, the Weapon's beam must have caused a cave-in.) _She looked around searching for Sephiroth. _(Where's Sephiroth? Did he fall into the cave too?) _She got up, dusted her clothes off and looked around. She stood in a corridor, and the ceiling was very high, but she only had a 5 feet visibility. _(I must've fallen at least 15 feet.). _She looked for her equipment and started to look around for an exit. She heard something coming from behind. She followed the sound. It turned out to be Sephiroth digging his way out from under a pile of earth and rubble. She helped him out, much to his annoyance. He checked himself for any injury, but found none.

"I could've gotten out by myself, you know?" Sephiroth didn't want anyone helping him. He didn't need help from anyone.

Aeris just gave him a small grin, "No one said you couldn't. I'm just being polite, sir."

Sephiroth choose to ignore her response. He looked around. "A cave…"

Aeris looked around some more, "Um, sir, this seems to be part of the Gaea Cliff's cave system. The system consists of caves below the Great Glacier, the Gaea Cliffs and the Crater. If we explore this cave we might find a way out."

It was very hard to see in the dark. Sephiroth was already reviewing his options. Sephiroth took out his PHS and tried it out, but there was interference and there was nothing but static. _Nothing, they'll never figure out where we are. Might as well go look for an exit._ "The PHS doesn't work, we'll have to look for an exit."

Aeris nodded, "Yes, sir!"

"Call me Sephiroth."

"In that case it's only fair that you call me Aeris too."

They both started walking, Sephiroth leading silently, but there was no light, which made it difficult to explore the cave. Aeris used a flashlight that she on her item bag. They walked for a few hours, but still nothing. They stopped after a while.

Aeris was just sitting there, bored out of her mind. "What'll we do now?"

"We've been walking for a long time, this cave doesn't seem to have an exit."

"We could be walking in circles or walking through the same path all day."

"We'll stay here to rest a while."

They set up a small fire using a few pieces of wood they found on the cave floor. Aeris looked at the cave walls. Aeris was tired of the silence. She couldn't stand it anymore. "Anyway, since were here, we might as well get something out of this. We can get to know each other better. I know you have questions you want to ask me, go ahead."

Sephiroth just looked at her. _Great, she wants to talk…But she's right, there are some things I want to ask her about. Might as well, we'll be here a while. _"Why did you join SOLDIER? You don't, I mean…"

"You mean I don't look like the fighting type. Right?"

Sephiroth's face was red with embarrassment. _Great, no only am I babbling, but I 'm blushing too. This has never happened before. What do I say? _

Aeris just smiled, "I'm not insulted by it. It's true, I don't look like a normal SOLDIER. I didn't mean to put you on the spot. The reasons why I joined SOLDIER are difficult to explain. I never gave it much thought. I just felt I had to, for my own survival. When people see me they automatically think I'm weak, or rather helpless. I joined SOLDIER because that way I could learn the skills needed to survive in a world like this. Besides the way I look gives me an advantage, it gives me the element of surprise." _Great, I'm telling him a little too much. Why can't I just shut up?_ "How many years have you been in SOLDIER?"

"I've always been in Shinra, Inc., but I joined SOLDIER when I was 15."

"Oh, I joined SOLDIER a year ago."

"It took you one year to get to 1st class. Impressive."

"I trained hard and passed the tests. How long did it take you?"

"I joined the 1st class immediately after joining SOLDIER. I took the 1st class exam and passed it."

Aeris just looked at him. (_He passed it on his first day; he's really strong. Is that even possible? Then again, he is Sephiroth. It's foolish to underestimate him.)_

After that there was an awkward silence. Neither of them knew what to say. It was getting dark and Aeris was starting to get sleepy. Even Sephiroth was tired. Aeris looked at her watch. "It's almost 1:00A.M. I think I've got a blanket in my pack. We could manage for the night."

Sephiroth just looked at Aeris' pack; it was the size of a gym bag. He grinned. "A blanket, a flashlight, food, items, you don't pack light, do you?"

Aeris just grinned back. "A girl has to be prepared for any kind of emergency. Besides, aren't you glad I don't pack light?"

"Point taken. Well, your right, we should rest for the night."

"It is getting late."

Sephiroth nodded, "I'll take the first watch."

Aeris smiled at him, "Thanks." She took her blanket and laid back against a wall. She wrapped the blanket around herself. And started to drift into sleep. (_He's so nice… and cute too. Ah! What am I thinking?! Maybe I'm just sleep deprived.) _Her thought drifted as she fell asleep.

Sephiroth stood alone, watching the dying campfire. After a while he stole a glance at Aeris. Suddenly a loud growl echoed throughout the cave. _Well, so much for rest._ Aeris woke up with a start. She saw Sephiroth ready his sword and she prepared for battle. They walked silently, as not to be noticed. The growls continued. They followed the sounds and got to a huge chamber. One of the walls of the chamber was made of ice. There was something entrapped in the ice, but they couldn't tell what it was. In the middle of the chamber stood a contraption of some kind. Still there was no sign of any monster. Sephiroth stood in front of the artifact. "This is unlike anything I've ever seen. It looks like it hasn't been used in a while."

Aeris looked at the artifact. (_It's a control panel of some kind. It's of Ancient origin. I wonder what does it do?) _"It looks like a panel or something like that."

Sephiroth just looked at the panel; it had some sort of ancient writing. Then he saw a gem in the middle of the panel. He hesitantly touched it, but nothing happened. Aeris walked closer to him. As she approached the panel, the gem began to glow. When Aeris touched the gem it gave off a strong green glow and small gems on the chamber's walls lit up too, lighting up the whole chamber. In front of them stood the wall of ice, but now what was entrapped in the ice was visible. Aeris looked at it, she couldn't believe it. "How can it be entrapped in ice? It's the same monster that attacked us. It is just not possible." 

Suddenly the ground started shaking again and the gems' glow intensified. An eerie green glow surrounded Aeris and she was taken off the ground and floated in mid-air. The ice wall started cracking and the Weapon's eyes opened. The Weapon broke free of the ice and started growling. Sephiroth readied his sword. Aeris closed her eyes and started chanting a prayer, but Sephiroth couldn't make out the words. The glow around Aeris' body intensified and a sphere of light appeared in front of her outstretched arms. The sphere of light intensified and Aeris threw it toward Weapon. The light completely surrounded it and seemed to dissolve Weapon until there was nothing. The glow faded and Aeris floated back down. 

Sephiroth just stood there, dumbstruck. Aeris looked at him warily. Sephiroth put away the Masamune. "What was that?"

Aeris had to think fast. "That was my limit break."

Sephiroth just looked at her. _(That's unlike any limit break I've ever seen. Besides she didn't get any damage, how could she activate her limit break?) _The earth started moving and the ceiling began to give in. Sephiroth quickly cast a strong Barrier spell on Aeris and himself. After a few minutes the entire ceiling had fallen on them. The Barrier completely shielded them from the debris. They climbed out of the cave and looked around. It was still dark. They were in the crater. 

They decided to walk back to camp, which took the rest of the night. When they got there they found Luna in front of Sephiroth's tent, obviously waiting for Aeris. It was already dawn and everyone was walking out of their tents and saw Sephiroth and Aeris arriving. They looked horrible, hair messed up and clothes dirty. Zack just looked at them, "What happened to you two?"

Sephiroth glared at him, "Mission accomplished. We'll move out to Icicle Village and wait for further instructions." Everyone wanted to ask what happened, but Sephiroth's glare indicated any questions would definitely not be welcomed.

After a while they arrived. Luna followed Aeris while Sephiroth walked in the front. Kids were playing in the snow. Some were skiing, skating in a small ice skating rink and some were throwing snowballs. One snowball hit Zack squarely on the face. Zack looked for the culprit, two boys and a girl were playing with snowballs, but stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Zack getting hit by one. Zack looked like he was about to kill them. Everyone in the unit knew he was joking, he wouldn't really get mad about something as trifle as that, but the children didn't know. They backed up until they were against a wall. They looked at all the SOLDIERs until they looked at Aeris. After a few seconds their faces lit up with recognition and they ran to Aeris and held on to her for dear life. "Aeris! You're back!" Aeris almost fell. When Zack turned back toward them they hid behind Aeris, terrified. Aeris just looked at the children grinning, "Zack, leave them alone." Zack just shrugged his shoulders, "Sorry to scare you kids, I don't bite!" They didn't trust him until Aeris reassured them that Zack wouldn't hurt them.

A man and a woman approached the group, they were in their twenties. The man had short black hair and brown eyes, while the woman had long brown hair and brown eyes. The woman was the first one to speak up. "Aeris! Is that you? It's been a while." The woman hugged Aeris and she hugged back. Aeris remembered that she hadn't introduced them to Sephiroth and the rest of the unit. "Oh, I forgot to introduce you all. Everyone, these are two very good friends of mine: William and Liz. Liz, William, this is Lieutenant Sephiroth and his men, I was transferred to his unit." Pleasantries were exchanged. Liz and William were the owners of the Inn and were more than happy to let them stay at the Inn for free. They even invited them for dinner.

The next day everyone had the day off, except Sephiroth who had to write a report to HQ. He didn't know where to start; the battle with the giant monster defied the very laws of logic. He couldn't explain how the creature could attack something like a helicopter without leaving any traces of his whereabouts and then be found frozen in a solid block of ice. For that matter he couldn't explain how Aeris could destroy it with only one attack, he had never seen an attack like that before. He decided to take a break and look around town, there was one place he really wanted to visit, Professor Gast's house. He was told it was abandoned, so he entered the house. He looked around, everything was out of place and the dust had accumulated through the years. There was a portrait of Gast with a woman and a baby. The woman in the picture had long brown hair and green eyes. Sephiroth looked at the portrait. (_I didn't know that Professor Gast had married. The woman on the picture looks familiar, maybe I saw her when I was younger.) _He looked around the room, there were very little furniture, but a lot of different machines were around the room. He sat on a desk that was besides the bookshelves. There was only one thing on the desktop, a photograph of the little baby on the portrait. There was something written on the bottom of the photo. Sephiroth could barely make out the words: "Aeris, 3 months old". He quickly turned to the family portrait. _(That's where I thought I saw that woman, the woman in the portrait is almost identical to Aeris. This is getting more interesting.) _Sephiroth got up, took Aeris' photo and returned to the inn to finish his report.

Aeris was in her room worrying about the report. If he writes the whole truth, she'll end up in a certain scientist's lab.

The next morning a helicopter came to pick them up. They arrived in Midgar by noon. Aeris was in her little office, skimming through some paperwork. Someone knocked on the door. Aeris told the person outside to come in. Sephiroth opened the door and gave Aeris a folder. "This is the report I'm going to turn in to Heidegger." 

Aeris opened the folder and started reading it. _(Monster was a high level monster…blah blah…Monster was found in a cave and destroyed…I'm saved, but why did he buy my story? Even I couldn't believe it.) _As she closed the folder and gave it to Sephiroth, Reno burst into the office without even knocking.

Aeris didn't like that. "Reno, how many times have I told you to knock on my door before you barge in?!"

Reno just smirked and took out a folder from his coat, "Oh, but I bring news. I've got an assignment you two will just love." The last statement was said with a tinge of sarcasm.

Aeris felt a headache coming on. (_Somehow I don't think I agree with him.)_

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Author's notes- I promise next chapter will be better, I really didn't like how this one turned out. Not to worry the intros are difficult, but the rest is easier. I've taken a long time to finish it, but it was deleted when I was almost done with it, so I had to start again.

   [1]: mailto:malu_45@hotmail.com



	3. Undercover (chapter 4)

Title- Duty

Title- Duty

Chapter 4

Author- Malu ([malu_45@hotmail.com][1])

Series- Final Fantasy 7

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Disclaimers- See chapter 1

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Author's notes- It's an AU Fic, also see author's notes on chapter 1. Ages: Sephiroth 19 and Aeris 16. Thoughts are between parenthesis and in italics. If your going to post this fic in your page delete the parenthesis and leave thoughts in italics. 

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"No, no, no, no, no!"

Reno was having a ball. "Come on! You know you can't refuse a mission."

"Isn't this the Turks' job?"

"Yes, sadly we have another more important assignment. Besides, you know the only one allowed inside Don Corneo's mansion are girls."

"Yes, but why do I have to dress up like this. I could get pneumonia wearing this thing, besides what about Elena? She's a Turk."

"Elena isn't a very good spy, she tends to babble too much. Besides she could never pull it off, you on the other side will look lovely."

"Shut up. Where did you find those clothes? They look like something Scarlet would wear."

"Yes, well I'm sure they'll look better on you than they look on her."

"I'm NOT going outside looking like this. You can almost see EVERYTHING!"

"I know."

Aeris' head came from behind the changing curtain and she threw a combat boot at Reno, who barely dodged it. Sephiroth was looking at the whole scene quite amused. Aeris was in a changing booth trying on clothes for an undercover mission. Don Corneo is the owner of the Honey Bee Inn. They were assigned to go to the Honey Bee Inn and Corneo's Mansion. Aeris was going pose as one of Corneo's girls, while Sephiroth was going to infiltrate the mansion and destroy all of Corneo's files. Neither Aeris nor Sephiroth knew why they were sent on such an unimportant mission. Corneo was influential in the slums, but not enough to be dangerous to Shinra; he was just an owner of a brothel and head of some gangs.

"Why did you pick me? Even if Elena couldn't do this, there are a lot of girls who could."

"Oh, but your perfect for this, no one would suspect you to be a spy."

"If someone here saw me dressed like that my professional image would be ruined. Sephiroth, could you please lend me your jacket?"

Sephiroth was wearing black pants, a black button down shirt, his black boots and a black leather coat. He took off his coat and gave it to Aeris. A few minutes later she came out of the changing booth. You couldn't see her dress because of the coat, which reached to mid-thigh, obviously too large for her, still it showed off her legs and her black high heels. Reno was leering in a very inelegant way, while Sephiroth looked away quickly.

Aeris was furious at Reno. "Reno, get that look off your face and leave."

Reno didn't move an inch. "Don't tell me you'll wear that coat over your dress, that is just a waste."

Aeris glared at him. "Get lost, Reno."

Sephiroth had enough. "I think it's time to go. Aeris, let's go." 

They got to the gate of the Wall Market without any problems. Aeris wasn't too thrilled. "Well the moment I've been dreading has come." She took off his coat and gave it back to him. Sephiroth was speechless. Aeris was wearing a short black dress that was laced in the back, showing off her figure, her legs and her entire back. Still she didn't look like she was one of the Honey Bee Inn's girls; her eyes gave her away. Her face was red and she looked nervous, she was mortified. Sephiroth quickly looked away, not wanting to be caught staring.

Aeris wanted to just disappear into thin air, she hoped that the earth would just swallow her. "I must look like a hooker."

Sephiroth saw the expression on her face and felt sorry for her. "Do you want my coat back?"

She smiled at him. "Thanks, but it would ruin the disguise. Now let's get this over with." She took Sephiroth's arm in her own and got very close to him. Sephiroth was very uncomfortable with their closeness, and so was Aeris. "You know this is only to be in character." Sephiroth nodded.

They got to the Honey Bee Inn in a few minutes, but had to deal with a few bums and drunks that were along the way. When they reached the front door the bouncer let them through after Sephiroth paid for a room. The room was tastelessly decorated to look Wutaian. There was a king-sized bed with black satin sheets and a hot tub. Aeris sat up in the bed. Sephiroth just stood in the middle of the room. Aeris looked around. "Sephiroth sit down, we'll be here a while." Sephiroth sat down in the opposite side of the bed, leaving as much space between them as possible. 

A boring hour later they prepared to leave. Sephiroth would leave and Aeris would speak with the other girls in the inn. Every new girl was sent to Corneo. Aeris was going to enter Corneo's Mansion and create a diversion when she got to Corneo's room, giving Sephiroth enough time to get in, get to the basement where Corneo kept his files, destroy them and get out.

Sephiroth left and Aeris went in girls' changing room. The girls were talking about something when she came in, they stopped talking until Aeris introduced herself. They continued talking about some disappearances that have been happening lately, it seemed that some of Corneo's girls have been disappearing and no one knew what happened to them. They changed the subject and started talking gossiping, when they found out who Aeris was with, they started asking a lot of questions, they didn't know who was Sephiroth, but they had seen him and they thought he was cute. Aeris told them she had just met him. She was saved from further questioning when one of Corneo's men came to take the new girls to Corneo's mansion. Since she was the only one she went alone. 

When she reached the entrance of the mansion she saw Sephiroth hiding in a dark corner. She went in and another of Corneo's men took her to Corneo's office. She looked at her surroundings. _This room defies bad taste. _She only had to wait two minutes for Don Corneo to come. He was fat and ugly…very ugly. Aeris tried to smile, but it came out very fake. Don Corneo was ogling her in a very disgusting way.

He was the first one to speak. "What's your name babe?"

Aeris faked another smile. "My name's Lily." _This is going to take a while…_

Sephiroth was outside, hiding in the shadows, thinking of how to get in. _I could have done this alone. Reno knows that. This is such an easy mission, why did they send two SOLDIERs to take care of this, even a low level one could take care of this. Reno is up to something_

There was a commotion and the guards ran inside. Sephiroth crept in. Before he could get to files he heard what seemed like fighting. He got to Corneo's office and didn't see Aeris. Corneo and his men were huddled around what looked like an open trap door. He heard a monster growling and Aeris casting a summon spell. The sound came from under the floor. 

Corneo was mad, "She's going to kill it. Quick, kill her."

Sephiroth cast a Bolt 3 spell and Corneo and his men fell unconscious. He jumped down the trap door and found himself in a sewer, Aeris fighting a huge green monster, the monster was dying. They finished it off. 

Sephiroth looked at the monster; it didn't look like any monster he's seen in Midgar or any place else. It looked like a mutation of different monsters. "What happened?"

"I followed them in and when I walked towards Corneo the trap door opened and I fell here. This monster attacked me and I fought it."

They looked around the sewers, there were bodies scattered around. They seemed to be girls from the Honey Bee Inn. Sephiroth counted at least 10 bodies. 

Aeris was confused, this didn't look like something people like Don Corneo would do, it was too complicated. "Why would he keep this monster? And for that matter where could he get a monster like this one? This monster couldn't have been a simple mutation."

"I don't think he's smart enough to pull this off alone. Someone must be working with him, someone with a lot of available resources. And I bet we can find the name of this mystery person in Corneo's files." They climbed up the trap door's chute and found Corneo and his men still unconscious. They disarmed them and threw them down the chute. They got to the basement.

Sephiroth started looking at some of the files. Aeris didn't know what to look for. "Um, which are the records that Shinra wants us to get?"

"They told me to destroy them all"

" Oh…" She started to search the files. _Looks like Shinra has something to hide. I bet it has to do with the monster. Maybe someone from Shinra was the one who helped Corneo or maybe even made the monster. _

Aeris started to giggle and laugh looking at one of the files. Sephiroth went to see what was so funny. " What's so funny?" Aeris showed him a photo. It was Shinra entering the Honey Bee Inn with Scarlet.

Sephiroth arched his eyebrow. "I'm sure that's not what Shinra sent us for." 

"Look at this, there's more."

"I don't think this is a good time…"

"Just see them, it'll only take a minute."

Sephiroth glanced at the pictures with Aeris. There were some other photos of Shinra with Scarlet. Then they looked at pictures of Heidegger with a girl. Aeris was looking at another photo and suddenly turned green. She looked sick. 

"Are you okay?"

Aeris didn't look at him, she just gave him the photo. Sephiroth looked at her and also turned green. It was a picture of Hojo with a girl wearing a leather corset. " I did not need to see that. Let's just…" He dropped the photo on the table and continued searching through the files.

Sephiroth stopped looking and called Aeris. Sephiroth was looking at some documents. He gave them to Aeris. "These files are scientific data about the monster. It seems we were correct, the monster was created in a lab, but these papers say that the monster was created with high amounts of Mako. The only place you could get the kind of technology to make this kind of experiment is in Shinra."

Aeris read the files. "Looks like someone from Shinra made it and it couldn't be just anyone, only someone with advanced knowledge of Mako and bioengineering could make a monster like that. That narrows it down to some of Shinra's top scientists."

Sephiroth was deep in thought. _It's him._ "Aeris, we were ordered to destroy these files. That's exactly what we're going to do."

"But this documents are proof that someone in Shinra Inc. is doing very dangerous research behind the company's back."

"Probably, or maybe not. I'm sure Shinra has an idea of whom it is and even if he didn't it would be suicide to come forward with an accusation before getting enough proof and knowing exactly who it is. This person could be very powerful. We need to be careful."

Aeris was uneasy about it. "You do have a point, besides there is a good chance that the person that sent us here could very well be our mystery person and not Shinra. We're ordered to destroy them. But still we can't just leave it at that."

Sephiroth just took the most important files and burned the rest. "Mission completed. We can head back to Headquarters. We destroyed all of the files."

Aeris understood immediately. "Understood."

They left the Wall Market and Sephiroth gave Aeris his coat again and made their way to the Shinra Building. When they got there they went to Sephiroth's office. Before they could even sit down there was a knock at the door; it was Zack. Sephiroth let him in. Sephiroth sat behind his desk and Aeris sat on a chair. He was grinning. "So what were you two up two?" Both Sephiroth and Aeris groaned and sank in their chairs.

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Author's notes-This chapter was very difficult to finish. It's crap. I thought about doing the cross-dressing thing, but I know Sephiroth wouldn't do a thing like that. The next chapter, I hope will be finished faster, but with college starting soon so it'll be unlikely. +_+ In reality I write faster, but I tent to dwell on things and I'm never satisfied with my work so I scrap it and try again until I got it right, but it takes forever and even with the finished product I'm not completely satisfied. So tell me what you think, it means a lot to me.

   [1]: mailto:malu_45@hotmail.com



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